Because You Live
by SomedaySomehow
Summary: Naley. Haley left on tour and never came back. AU from there. Nathan still loves her desperately so what happens when after seven years they are thrown together again?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own credit for the characters/places used in this story. I am simply mucking around with them for my own enjoyment and yours hopefully.

"Haley! Haley are you up yet?" Called the voice of Jesse Gregory as he tapped on the mahogany red door in front of his face. Jess ran a frustrated hair through his hair, rumpling it handsomely in the process. Haley had had a late night and he knew it would more likely be a negative on the question he had posed. The assumption was proved to be correct when no answer came from the other side of the door. Jesse laughed and pushed his way inside. Taking a step into the bedchamber of his love he once more chose to pause just to take in her beauty. Honey blonde hair falling in silky waves around a fair-skinned angels' face. Her lips a soft pink set in a completely innocent expression as she slept peacefully. Jesse however knew very well that the most dazzling part of Haley's appearance was hidden at that moment. Hidden behind lids with long, naturally black eyelashes. Her eyes. A dark, glimmering, brown that could draw him under her complete control with a single look.

It was only when she shifted in her sleep that Jesse was brought out of his reverie and crossed to Haley's side. Shaking her arm lightly he dipped his head and whispered in her ear. "Good morning Mrs Gregory." He placed a kiss on her neck and watched as it stirred her amazingly well, it always had. Jesse took a moment to glance at the engagement ring now glistening on her ring finger. She was his'. Officially now. Wearing his grandmother's jewel, sleeping in his home, going to all the boring dinners he was pushed through, planning their wedding. He rejoiced that such a beautiful woman was to be his wife and companion for the rest of his life. Grinning all over his attractive face he looked down in surprise. "Good morning…" Spoke a voice from the bed that he adored hearing above all other sounds on the earth.

"We've got that state lunch to go to with Dad." Said Jesse gently.

"What time?" Replied a far from awake Haley.

"Two."

"Why do we have to go again?"

"Because Dad's announcing our engagement remember?"

"Oh" Yeah… I remember now." Her expression read of annoyance that she hadn't remembered. So many things were slipping Haley's mind at that moment in time and it was truly, truly frustrating.

"Hey don't worry about it… You are allowed to forget things sometimes." Said Jesse soothingly as he slipped a strong arm around Haley's petite shoulders. Haley was small and thin and Jesse was tall and broad. They looked good next to each other, but there was true love in his' eyes and hers', which made the general overall appearance of the couple even better. Haley didn't reply to his comment, just pecked him lightly on the cheek and rose from her bed. Crossing to her mall-like wardrobe she strode inside and held up two outfits. One was a light pink trouser suit and the other an elegant black with a simple string of pearls at it's hem. The dress had always been one of Haley's favourites. However the trouser suit looked less like she was dressed for a funeral, in the back of her mind she wondered if choosing it as an option that day was her heart giving her a message. But she brushed the thought away in irritation. She loved Jesse… Why shouldn't she marry him? "Which one?" She asked him with a smile.

"Neither." He grinned in response.

"Well what then?" She faked annoyance. "I swear you care more about what I wear than I do." Jesse simply laughed and walked towards her, into the wardrobe. He moved a small way along her array of clothes and found what he was looking for. It was a simple white summer dress made of the purist silk and moved with the slightest breeze. Also the neckline didn't show anything. Jesse didn't want anyone but him seeing Haley's breasts so had deliberately chosen something that covered the aforementioned area completely. The dress had a salsa feel to it when it reached the legs and had many different layers that lended to a feeling of it moving with the person. It had been a present from his mother to Haley. Jesse held the dress out for Haley to take with a smirk. "You have better taste in clothes than I do… Are you sure you don't bat for the other side so to speak?" Teased Haley sweetly.

"I've had more experience with these stupid dinners. I always had to pick out my sisters' outfits as well," he admitted with a faint blush that Hales only managed to find endearing.

"Awwwww you're so cute when you blush," she smiled but still with that hint of a tease evident in her merry voice. She walked past him to her bathroom. Slapping his firm arse as she did so…

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A few hours late Haley and Jesse were sitting next to each other at a grand dining table. Haley fit in perfectly with everyone around her, but it was all an act. Haley had learnt many years beforehand, when she first started dating Jesse, that to fit into the world he brought with him she had to put on airs and graces no matter what. Never let your second face slip. Was a piece of advice that Jesse's Mom had given her one day while they were discussing how things were going. Haley had always felt welcomed by the Gregory family, they knew everything about her and still welcomed with open arms. It would be lovely to have such wonderful people as her in-laws when the time came for her to say 'I do' for the second time in her life.

Haley felt Jesse slip his hand into hers and give a gently squeeze as they left the table and headed for the ballroom where the press were assembled. Haley took a deep breath; her engagement was about to become common knowledge. She had thought that after Nathan she would never love anyone again. When she had got on that tour bus it was the last time she ever saw Nate and had thought of him often, but it had been him who gave that ultimatum. A few weeks into the tour she had received the annulment papers by courier, cried her heart out, then signed them with a shaking hand. Haley didn't want to hold onto him if she couldn't make him happy, if tore her very soul from her body but she had to let go of the past and look to the future. He was free to be with someone who deserved his love and that was what forced her to get up in the morning and keep going.

Then four months later she had met Jesse. He was kind, handsome and so down to earth it was a wonder he could lift his feet. The perfect balm to soothe her tattered heart. Haley knew it was hard to find love at all; she was more than blessed to have found it twice. So that afternoon she was to be announced as the future Mrs Haley James-Gregory.

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"Esteemed and honoured guests! I would like to make an announcement of great importance. My son Jesse came to me a week ago with news so wonderful I felt my heart swell to proportions I never dreamed it possible. And what was this news you may ask? The news was that the beautiful rose that stands next to him has agreed to be his wife." The crowd around the man gasped in surprise and the journalists began to snap pictures ten to the dozen. "It is my great honour to properly announce the engagement of Prince Jesse Casper Arthur Gregory and Haley Bethany James!" He finished. William Gregory, Jesse's father, had never been an emotional man but at that moment the broadcasting world saw a tear form in his eye. Not something expected from the King of Denmark.

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Many, many miles away a young man rubbed his finger over the off button on his remote control. He dropped his dark head into his large hands and felt the hollow where his heart should be start to ache even harder. He should never have sent her those papers; he should have forgotten his stupid pride and gone after her on that tour. He should have patched things up while he still had the chance but now he had lost even that. She would be getting married soon. As he sat there in his hotel room a quiet word fell from his lips. "Hales."

A/N: Hate it? Love it? This is my first fan-fic so please review!


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Disclaimer: Same as before, I own nothing!

That was where a weary Lucas Scott found him the next morning. His little brother sound asleep or was that unconscious? Luke couldn't tell as he noticed that the bottle of vodka Nate had near him was drained to the last drop. It had been full the night before because Lucas had seen it. Sighing to himself he crossed the room to his brother's form and began to tap him lightly on the face in an attempt to wake him up. "Nate? Nate! Come on we've got practice." The Scott brothers had been playing for the LA Lakers for about a year at that point and had no thoughts of leaving. Lucas continued to slap his brother but to no avail, Nathan really didn't want to wake up that day.

Groaning to himself Lucas pulled out his cell and dialled a familiar number that he couldn't live without, Brooke Davis. Him and Brooke had gotten engaged the night before and planned to tell everyone at dinner that night, but if Nathan was unconscious they couldn't follow this plan through. They needed him awake to congratulate them after all. He waited for a few moments as the phone rang in his ear before a chirpy voice that he loved picked up. "Hello Brooke Davis speaking."

"Hey Cheery."

"Broody! You only left what… five minutes ago? Can't keep away from me I see."

"I need your help Brooke."

"Why? What's happened? You sound…"

"I sound stressed yes I know. Look Nathan's drunk himself into a stupor again and we've got to be at practice in about half an hour."

"God not again… I'll be right over."

"Thanks Cheery, I love you."

"Love you too Broody," and with that he heard the line go dead and knew she would soon be there to clean up the mess that Nate had gotten himself into. Lucas had always loved Brooke no matter how many times he screwed their relationship up. Underneath it all his heart had belonged to the bubbly girl and always would. Now she was his one hundred percent and he couldn't quite believe his luck. What had he done to deserve a girl with such a kind heart and bubbly nature? Oh well whatever it was he knew he was blessed because of it.

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About ten minutes later there came a light tap on the door and Lucas jumped to answer it. Nathan had still not woken up and was completely unresponsive. He was beginning to wonder whether he should ring for an ambulance, Nate had never been this bad before. He wondered what on earth could have set him off this time; he'd been doing quite well recently. Luke opened the door to Brooke and she instantly brushed past him with a smile. She had other things to do, like waking his little brother up, before she could indulge herself in the presence of her fiancé. "Come on Nate time to wake up for Brooke." She cooed as she got to work. Grabbing a cup from the shelf she filled it with freezing cold water. Smiling over at Lucas for a moment she explained. "Sometimes the easiest methods are the best." Luke just laughed at her as she made her way back to Nathan's unconscious body. "Sorry about this Nathan," spoke Brooke before she cast the water over his body.

Nate jumped back to consciousness as if he'd been electrocuted and Brooke stepped back to overview her good work. He was up and he was breathing, that was a plus in itself. "What the hell?" He asked as he looked around. His voice was rough and obviously it hurt him to use it. Brooke filled the cup up again but this time handed it to him to drink as Nathan lifted a hand to his head, he felt like he'd been smacked repeatedly with a very fat woman carrying a handbag, and now the woman was doing a tap dance through his temples. He gulped down the water he was handed before repeating his question in different words. "What happened?"

"You got paralytic again," explained Lucas in annoyance. He never liked to see Nate drinking.

"Oh god… How long until we've got to be at practice?"

"About 15 minutes… But you're not up for it are you?"

"I'll be fine…" Nathan tried to stand up but the pain in his head just made him sink right down again. This was not good.

"No you won't," chipped in Brooke as she looked around his hotel room. There was clothes thrown everywhere and dishes piling in the sink. Nathan didn't need friends, he needed a keeper. He was living in filth and Brooke knew she had to be the one to point this out. It was her job as his future sister-in-law to check he was all right. Also she had such a big mouth it was killing her not to say anything. However she did manage to hold her tongue at that precise moment realising it wasn't the right time to attack Nate.

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About ten minutes later Nathan had been ploughed with painkillers and water and taken a quick shower as well. He rushed out the door with Lucas and both the brothers made it on time to practice. Nate's game was really off but no one seemed to notice. They had a big game against Dallas that week and the Coach was too busy cracking the whip to notice one who flew under the radar. As Lucas was leaving he made sure Nathan was at his side. The two of them needed to talk.

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"So what happened?" Asked Lucas as he sat in Starbucks with his little brother twenty minutes later. The two hadn't been that close before Haley and had almost cracked apart since she left. Thankfully however their common friends wouldn't let them slip back into hatred and instead forced them to stay close. It was truly amazing to them how much Peyton, Jake and Brooke meddled to make sure they didn't go back to the way they were before.

"Haley's getting married," admitted Nathan as he took a sip from his coffee. Lucas had not been expecting this and the news through him off for a moment. Haley was getting married again? He had kept in touch after she left and she hadn't thought to mention she was engaged? Luke felt anger boil under his skin but didn't let it show. He had never told Nate that he was still in touch with her because he feared it would hurt more than help.

"To who?"

"The Prince of Denmark."

"What? When did she start seeing him?" Asked Lucas trying to back track the conversations he had had with Haley, never once had she mentioned a new boyfriend, let alone that he was the Prince of some European country.

"How should I know? I don't stalk her Lucas," spoke Nathan in an irritated tone as he surveyed his elder brother through almost dead blue eyes. The idea of stalking her had always been one passed around like a joke between the friends in an attempt to cheer Nate up after she left. They would say he should go and follow her around the country in a white van and turn up everywhere just to make sure she knew he still cared. The thought had never failed to make him laugh and he was grateful to them all for trying to take away the sting in his heart.

"I don't know what to say Nate…"

"What can you say? It's not like you could have stopped it or something, none of us have heard from her for what seven years?"

"Yeah… Yeah that's right," lied Lucas convincingly as he mentally made a note to call Haley the next chance he got, he needed to hear the full story.

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Haley was lying on her four-poster bed and staring up at the drapes around her. She loved her new life of grandeur but was often known to feel out of place. She could only be herself around Jesse, everyone else had to see her perfect, prim persona. It got rather annoying to forever be pretending but it's what her life called for. She knew that she shouldn't have to be fake if she was truly happy but life was never that black and white, you had to grey the edges to get along. She was happy with Jesse at least and that was good enough.

While she had been pondering her life she barely noticed that the phone next to her was ringing. Snapping back to reality she grabbed it and pulled it up. "Hello?" There were very few people that had her personal number. Brooke, Peyton, Lucas, Jake, Annie (One of her Denmark friends), George (Her PA) and her parents. She waited for the other person to answer so she could distinguish which of them it was.

"Haley?" The voice was one hundred percent male and she registered it to a face instantly.

"Luke! Great to hear from you, what's up?" She asked though she thought she already knew the answer and knew this was going to turn into an argument.

"Your engagement,"

"Ah…"

"Yes ah. Why didn't you tell me?"

"I knew you'd have to tell him." Haley never used Nathan's name out loud anymore. There was no point.

"Nathan you mean?" Haley flinched but she knew that Lucas wasn't finished so didn't speak. "Of course I had to tell him, but maybe if you'd told me I could have prepared him mentally instead of let him find out through a bloody TV announcement."

"He should have moved on by now Lucas," she pointed out.

"I know that Haley, but he still loves you… Can't understand why."

"Look I've stayed away from Tree Hill haven't I? I haven't even spoken to him for seven years… I've kept my side of the deal so don't you ever try and make me feel guilty."

"Maybe you should come over."

"What?" Haley sat up straight on her bed in disbelief, why on earth would she come back to America after setting herself up so happily in Europe? Also Jesse would never go for it, he wanted to stay firmly in Denmark until they were married, to do the publicity bit so it was out of the way.

"Maybe you should come over, put his mind at rest."

"How exactly can I help do that? I'll just stir things up again. We had a deal Lucas. I stay away completely and you keep me updated."

"I remember."

"Then why are you trying to complicate things?"

"Because I'm worried about my little brother," with that he hung up on her and her thoughts. What could she do to help put Nathan's head straight? There was no possible way that seeing her again would sort things out. She was better to keep her promise to Lucas and stay away. It would be easier for everyone that way.

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"Go to America? Why would we want to do that?" Asked a confused Jesse Gregory as he watched his fiancé pack her clothes into a suitcase and order around her ladies maids.

"I want you to meet my parents before we get married," lied Haley expertly as she ran a hand through her auburn locks. They were hanging in disarray but she didn't care; she had more important things to worry about after all.

"Can't they come here?" He asked, still confused.

"No," she answered plainly. She was lucky to be able to use her parents as an excuse. Haley had personally set them up with a house in LA many years before but it had been at least five years since she saw them last, making them the perfect scape-goats.

"Ok… If this will make you happy," he gave in seeing how much Haley wanted to go and see them. He wasn't going to stand in the way of anything that would draw a smile to her face. This admission caused Haley to throw herself into his arms in a tight embrace which he simply laughed at. Hugging her back just as tightly he grinned into her hair. Hales never managed to bore him that was for sure.

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'We're coming over.' The message flashed on Lucas' screen like an omen. He had received the text from Haley a few moments beforehand and had simply stared dumbfounded down at it. He had expected her to at least spend a week mulling his idea over before agreeing or disagreeing with it. He had never expected for her to drop everything and come back to America within a day of him asking her to. This thought made him move to another that maybe there was a small chance that she still cared for her ex-husband. Luke shook the idea away as being stupid; Haley would have come back sooner if she still loved Nathan surely.

"What does she mean we're?" Asked Brooke over his shoulder and Lucas finally took notice that she was there.

"I guess she's bringing him over."

"The fiancé?"

"Yes the fiancé," the idea of Nathan meeting this new man made Luke's stomach contract. Would he be able to handle it? Or would it push him over the edge. Brooke slipped her hand to his neck and rubbed it to release the tension.

"It'll come right in the end baby."

"How Brooke? How can it come right?"

"Sometimes they come back," she said simply as she leaned down to place a light kiss on his lips. The words she had spoken hung in the air like a magical spell.

Sometimes they come back.

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A/N: Naley coming up! Please review with what you think.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Disclaimer: I solemnly swear I am only playing with these characters. I don't own them or the places mentioned in here.

Nathan threw the basketball towards the hoop and watched as it sailed easily through the net. Basketball was so simple, so easy to him. It just came as naturally as breathing. Why couldn't Haley be like that? Why couldn't he just breathe her back into his life like the scent she left in the air? He remembered that scent. Like ripe peaches. It had been so comforting that it could smooth even the largest blemishes of his heart and soul. She was his home and she always would be. That's why he was still staying in a Hotel. He didn't want to buy a house because he knew she wouldn't be there when he came home. He hadn't lived in a proper home since she left seven years beforehand. Moving from hotel to hotel as his teams changed. Lucas was always there for him and he had just grown used to never settling in one place for too long.

He shot at the hoop once more and let the feeling of looseness take hold of his body for one moment. It was not often that Nathan Scott got to feel free. His heart was as heavy as stone and his soul much the same. He had his feet so firmly forced into the ground nowadays he might as well have sunk completely into the pits of the earth. He longed to feel free again. Free to fly through life carefree once again. Haley had walked into his life when he was only 16 and since then he could never be carefree again. But having her had made it worth worries. To have her was to live. Now she was gone he was living a tenth of a life. He got up, he practiced, he went out with Lucas, and he came home and slept. Then he would repeat the entire process again the next day. Everything was a repetitive idiocy that he couldn't escape without some help.

"Hey man… You all right?" Asked a concerned Jake as he made his way into the gym and dropped his bag on the stands. He had come to get ready for the big game and had expected the place to be empty.

"What?" Asked Nathan as he had been miles away. He hadn't heard Jake come in but was half glad of the company. Him, Jake and Lucas were meant to be the three musketeers.

"I asked if you were all right?" Laughed the other guy as he went to work defending Nathan's shots. Basketball made sense to both of them and it was easier than having to talk about what had made Nate's face look quite so crestfallen.

"Do I look it?" Asked Nathan seriously.

"No… In fact you look like crap."

"Thanks Jake," Nathan half laughed at his friends crassness and simple come out and say it nature.

"No problem."

"How's Peyton?"

"Pregnant."

"Again? Congratulations man."

"Thanks… We're hoping this one's a girl." Jake stole the ball from right under Nathan's nose and sped off down to the other half.

"Hey! You distracted me!" Called Nate good humouredly as he followed his friend in an attempt to take the ball back from him.

"Tactics mate, tactics." Jake was happy to see Nathan smiling for once, it had been a rarity for the past seven years.

"Whatever…"

"Hey you fancy coming out tonight? Me and Lucas want to hit that new bar downtown."

"Doesn't Brooke mind her fiancé going out to the bar scene?"

"Brooke's coming, and Peyton."

"You're taking your pregnant wife to a bar with alcohol?"

"She's only a month gone mate."

"Do I even have a choice about coming?"

"Not really…"

"Then I'll be there, I can get drunk outside the hotel for once, can't do any harm."

Little did he know at that point that it would do harm, it would set off a chain of events that would turn a lot of people's lives on their heads again.

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Haley James had just gotten herself unpacked in the Hotel and was sitting on her bed. Jesse had gone out to some tedious meeting that he had somehow managed to organise with the President at short notice when he found out he was being forced to come to America and meet the parents. It amazed Hales how he had managed to make the plans within the week it had taken to come over the ocean.

There was knock at the door and Hales jumped to her feet. Maybe Jesse was back early and forgotten his key or something. Pulling at the door handle however she got a bit of a shock, instead of encountering her fiancé she saw to her amazement someone even taller and broader. Lucas Scott. "Oh… Hello." She said plainly as she stepped back to allow him inside the room. He hadn't changed much in the past seven years. Same blonde hair and blue eyes. Same tall, broad frame. But there were a few things different. His hair was slightly longer and there were a few more lines marking his face from what she could only explain away as stress.

Luke walked in at her invitation and looked around. If this was the sort of Hotel room she was staying in it was clear that she had done well for herself. Found her Prince Charming literally. "Where's the fiancé then?" Asked Lucas, getting straight to the point, as he really didn't want to beat around the bush.

"Nice to see you Haley. How you been? Oh I've been good. How have you been Lucas?" Joked Haley as she played out the conversation they should have gone through before he started off at her.

"Don't joke around Haley."

"Why shouldn't I? I've got every reason to be laughing," she smirked as she gestured around her. Over seven years a little of Haley's shy, humble nature had been stolen by the darkness of the world that everyone had to live in.

"You've changed," stated Luke in surprise at her sudden confidence. This was not the Haley that had left seven years. She was stronger, harder, colder. Her heart must have been a tad bit stonier as well.

"It's been seven years Lucas," she pointed out as she sat down on her bed. Luke took the moment to survey her for appearance changes as well as personality ones. Unfortunately he could find very little that had changed with time. Same curves, same doe eyes, same earth-shattering smile. All the things that Nathan had fallen in love with were there and accounted for. This realisation annoyed Lucas, as he knew that this would only make the task of getting over her harder.

"Yes I know… But we have spoken on the phone."

"Once a month so I could ask how Nathan was getting on. Not the best opportunity to map my personality," she pointed out teasingly and Luke saw a glimmer of the Haley he had been so close to for so long. The teasing, quick wit and fast tongue.

"Yeah, I suppose you're right. Now where's the fiancé?"

"Out. He's meeting with the President for some tiresome reason."

"He's meeting the President?"

"Yeah… He called and set it up on Thursday."

"When will he be back?"

"Tomorrow."

"So you're free tonight?"

"I suppose."

"You want to come out with me, Brooke, Peyton and Jake?"

"Why do I feel that there's a catch to this offer."

"Nathan will be there as well."

"You have to be kidding me Luke… I just got here and already you want me to see him?"

"Yeah pretty much."

"Luke I can't see him tonight, I'm not ready."

"I've already told the others that you'll be there."

"Then you'll have to un-tell them."

"I can't Haley. Please come. I know that the owner really wants someone to provide the music tonight."

"So you want me to meet my ex-husband and sing at the same time?" Her voice was getting higher and higher with disbelief as stared at him in amazement. He was asking all this of her on her first night? Surely he wasn't serious.

"Well yeah basically."

"I gave up singing a long time Luke."

"Why?" She had left Nathan for her music? Why would she give up on it if she had already forfeited the love of her life for it.

"There was no point in singing when I had no one to share it with."

"Come on Haley, come and sing tonight."

"I'll see,"

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That night a terrified Haley James stood backstage of Honey Club. She had already handed the backing CD to the organiser and they were more than pleased to have such a great celebrity entertainer on their opening night. The owner hadn't had time to book everyone so most of the night would be done by a DJ but they had promised live talent of some sort. If Haley hadn't turned up they would have been stuck with some very bad teenage band that wailed instead of sung. Hales put a hand on her stomach and tried to settle it. The knowledge that Nathan was out there was enough to make her puke and then run away.

"Miss James we're ready for you," announced the organiser and Haley took a deep breath. Stepping out onto the stage and in a moment changing her destiny forever…

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"Now that live talent that we promised you…" Nathan was at the bar when he heard the organiser of the night talking into the mike but he wasn't paying attention to what the guy was saying, he was more interested in getting some booze down his throat. But then next two words that fell from the man on stage's lips brought him to attention with a bump. "…Haley James!"

Nathan looked to his friends with a highly pissed off expression. "What the hell?! Did you know? Did you?" He demanded and the faces before him looked down in guilt. They had all known of Lucas' request to Haley and they had all known that deep down she would cave. They all looked up at the stage and there she was. After seven long years, as if they were back in Tree Hill, in Tric. "Hey guys!" Haley's voice rang over the PA system as she settled herself down on a stool. "Thanks for putting up with my awful singing but at least it'll give you a laugh." She joked into the mike. The audience laughed appreciating the young woman's humour about her talent. Haley launched into her set but her friends were too busy trying to calm an outraged Nathan to listen properly for the first round of songs. The club was buzzing along to her mixture of pop and alternative music that she had released over the years when she had sung.

"What is she doing here?" Asked Nathan of them all and it was Brooke who piped up first.

"She's here so her fiancé can meet her parents," she lied. Hoping that the lie would help ease the tension. Brooke didn't want anyone to admit that they had made a joint decision to invite her to help him move on.

"But why is she _here_? Seems a bit too much to be a coincidence," pointed out Nate as he knew full well that Brooke was lying. He found his eyes kept straying back to the stage and every time he felt a tug within his very heart. A tug to jump up on stage, grab Haley and run off into the night with her. He was having a very hard time fighting the urge and knew it would only get worse the longer he stayed. She was like a drug and he was more than addicted. Her beautiful voice just managed to filter through his anger and he was once more enraptured by it. He breathed in the sight of her as for a moment he took the chance to drink her in.

"Because I invited her down," admitted Lucas as he looked at his little brother slowly fall more in love. There was nothing to stop Nathan's heart aching for Haley and Luke began to realise that his old friend had been right to begin with. She had left him for seven years and still knew Nate better than Lucas ever could. The thought annoyed Luke and he watched as the information filtered through Nathan's thick skin and hit his brain.

"Wh..a… what? But no one's talked to her in seven years?" Again he was greeted with four guilty faces. All of them had been in touch with Haley over the years, not wanting to lose their friendships with the girl. "Oh… I see how it was…" Said Nathan as his voice grew more pissed off and he turned to go.

"Where are you going?" Asked Jake as he found his voice.

"To get very very drunk."

"Don't Nate…"

"Why shouldn't I?!" He demanded as he saw red all around him. He needed a drink, he needed to null the ache in his head and replace it with a different sort. "I find out that four of my supposed best friends have been talking to the one person that I _needed_ more than anyone else. You knew! You all knew where she was and how to get in touch with her! But you said nothing! You bloody said nothing!" With his words hanging in the air between the four he stormed off just as Haley stepped down from the stage after her bows.

The DJ started playing and Hales approached the bar, it was only after she had ordered her drink that she noticed him. She felt her breath hitch annoyingly and her heart skip a few vital beats. Haley swore to herself that he still had this affect on her. She was meant to be over this. She was meant to be in love and engaged to the next part of her life. How could she head off into the future when her heart and body wanted to cling to the past? The past she had with him. She looked away when she noticed his head move to look at her.

Nathan noticed the young woman and his heart sped up to dangerous proportions. The same blonde hair, the glittering brown orbs, the tantalising curves. She hadn't changed at all. She was still his Haley. He backtracked at the personal pronoun she wasn't _his_ anymore. But how he wished she were. Why had he been so stupid as to let her go? He could have gone after her and cling on for dear life. Convinced her that she was his world and his home. His heart and his angel. The one sent specially to be with him, to make his life worth living. He wanted her to look up, to meet his eyes and see what she had done to him. The broken shell he had become with no goodness to fill it. Haley radiated light to him no matter what, her very smile could fill him to the hilt with the warmth of it and make even the darkest day full of sunshine. She was his own very personal sun and he knew he wanted that sensation back. Haley made Nathan complete in every way.

No longer able to resist he closed the space between them. His nose instantly latching onto the smell that he had wished to clasp at for so many years. Ripe peaches. She hadn't even changed her smell over the years. "Hales." He finally managed to let fall from his lips but it came out strangled and full of the conflict his heart was yelling at him. One option was to seize her in his arms and never let go again, to just carry her around like a backpack. The other option was to yell at her for how much she had put him through. The second was more sensible but the first appealed to every fibre of his body. In the end he picked neither and just waited for her response.

_Hales._ No one had called her Hales in seven years and it sounded good to her starved ears. She looked up and encountered a pair of bright blue eyes that seemed to freeze her very heart. He would always be the one for her and she knew that. But that stage of her life was over, it had to be for everyone's sanity. "Nathan." She replied in a shaking tone that clearly showed all that was happening within her body. The urge to jump up and wrap her arms around his neck, to breath in his scent again was so overpowering she wanted to give in and just let him make all the conflict go away. She had always felt at peace and happy in Nathan's arms.

Lucas watched the reunion from across the room and swore under his breath. She would do it again. He knew that now. Nate was powerless against her. However much she had hurt him Luke knew that if she offered to have him back he would jump literally at the chance. It soothed Lucas to know that this wasn't going to happen, she was engaged to someone else after all.

Someone who had just walked through the door of the club to see his fiancé after her performance. Jesse had heard that Haley was going to sing in public again and wanted to show that he completely supported the idea. This had led to him leaving the President's company early and flying back on the jet to be there for her. If he missed her performance it wouldn't matter, as long as he showed his face.

Little did know what his face was about to be put through…

A/N: Reviews are my loves! Like it/Hate it?


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Three

Disclaimer: I own nothing again! The lyrics used in this chapter are Jesse McCartney's. The song Because You Live gave me the inspiration for this fic in some ways.

Jesse spotted his fiancée almost immediately but his also spotted the man who was close to her. He felt himself take a step back in surprise at whom it was. He knew the face from pictures he had seen and could sense the danger in the situation. Jesse had worked so hard to pull Haley from misery all those years ago and he wasn't going to let her slip away that easily. Nathan had always been the name that hung between them, now it was time to extinguish him once and for all.

Moving at a lightening speed he made it to his fiancée's side. "Haley sweetheart… I heard about you singing again and came straight from Washington? How was it? Was it fun to be up there again?" He asked. His voice was bubbly and filled with happiness for his soon to be wife. It was there as a warning to Nathan that she was his' now. Not anyone else's. Jesse slipped his strong arm once more around his fiancée's waist and smiled at her, pretending not to notice the other man. "Let's go dance to celebrate," he said and before she could answer Haley was being dragged away onto the floor, and more importantly away from Nathan.

Nate watched in astonishment as the blonde man appeared and stole Hales so quickly from him it was almost like he'd done it with a puff of smoke. Nathan had seen the arm go around Haley's waist the most. The movement had made his stomach contract and his heart ordered him to wrench that arm away from her. To take back what it still saw as rightfully his. Hales' would always be the woman that Nathan wanted and needed. The one his mind would scream to grab hold of.

He watched in jealousy as Jesse and Haley danced. The happy couple. Nathan scoffed as he downed his Jack Daniels and ordered another. If there was one thing that would never change it was alcohol. Alcohol was always there to take the sting out of things. However that night it did something different. The liquid combined with a strong sense of male pride created a dangerous mixture. A mixture that wasn't safe to be around when it exploded. As Jesse was soon to find out.

Haley however was trying very hard to ignore the narrowed eyes from Nathan as she danced with her fiancé. Nate was supposed to have lost the right to be jealous when he served her with those annulment papers. He didn't want her to be Mrs Scott anymore and she had agreed to his wishes however badly it had hurt her. She had signed her love away and let him move on. So why the hell hadn't he? Surely there should be some beautiful blonde hanging on his arm? Someone to make him feel good as Jesse did for her? Someone to hold when the darkness took over? Someone to do the things she had once done for him? Why hadn't he found that woman? She ordered herself to stop thinking such stupid thoughts and just get on with her life. To leave the ache in her heart behind and stop caring if he was jealous. This thought running through her head she sighed as the song changed.

_Staring out at the rain with a heavy heart_

_It's the end of the world in my mind_

_Then your voice pulls me back like a wake up call_

_I've been looking for the answer_

_Somewhere_

_I couldn't see that it was right there_

_But now I know what I didn't know_

Haley danced her heart out as the lyrics hit home. Why this song? Why? She had heard this the day after she received the annulment papers, the morning she had signed them. The morning she had wondered if they were ever true about her from Nathan. This song had haunted her life for the past seven years, whenever she turned on the radio it was there and taunting her with what she had lost.

_Because you live and breathe_

_  
Because you make me believe in myself when nobody else can help_

_  
Because you live, girl_

_  
My world has twice as many stars in the sky_

Nathan listened to the song and the words ran all the way through to his shattered heart. That was exactly how he would always feel about Haley. That she was his reason to be alive. She was his reason to breathe and keep doing through the world he was forced into by everybody. Why had the DJ chosen this bloody song anyway? It was the one Nathan had heard after receiving the papers back from Haley, he had turned on the radio to cover the sound of his tears but the song had only made it worse. The words held a meaning for both the heartbroken souls and neither knew how the other felt. All Nathan could see was Haley dancing with another man to a song that had marked the end of their relationship.

_It's alright, I survived, I'm alive again_

_  
Cuz of you, made it through every storm_

_  
What is life, what's the use if you're killing time_

_  
I'm so glad I found an angel_

_  
Someone_

_  
Who was there when all my hopes fell_

_  
I wanna fly, looking in your eyes_

He had found an angel, and he had let her fly away like one as well. He always felt his soul fly when his eyes met hers with their merry, inquisitive twinkle. He never understood why this song had had quite such an effect on him and now he realised that even back then he had been damning himself to a life alone and without the warmth of a woman's smile and flesh. Nathan had let go of his only chance at love and now he was paying dearly for it.

_Because you live and breathe_

_  
Because you make me believe in myself when nobody else can help_

_  
Because you live, girl_

_  
My world has twice as many stars in the sky_

_  
Because you live, I live_

Haley saw him out of the corner of her eye and couldn't look away for a moment. The expression on his face caught her by surprise. There was deep hurt there, but also something in his eyes that she recognised even after all the years. Love. She saw love through all that pain and wanted to rush to him. To feel his arms around her and soothing away the pain that he inflicted on her. She had left, he had in-turn shattered her heart. Jesse had been there to pick up the pieces that Nate had created of Haley James and would soon be her husband. Her loving, caring husband that would never hurt her because he just couldn't. Nathan had been let in too deep, she had made him her reason to wake up in the mornings and go to bed safely at night. With Jesse it was different. If he left it would sting for a while but Hales knew she would get over it easier than she should do. Nate had been different. He had existed under her skin and stuck around no matter how hard she tried to shake him away. How hard she tried to forget him, nothing would ever do the job. The ache went away but still that sting would forever remain and seeing him had just made it worse again.

_Because you live there's a reason why_

_  
I carry on when I lose the fight_

_  
I want to give what you've given me always _

Because you live and breathe

Because you make me believe in myself when nobody else can help

_  
Because you live, girl_

_  
My world has twice as many stars in the sky_

The stars in Nathan's sky were alighting with fury and despair as he slammed down his drink and set his resolve in stone. He couldn't live without her and he refused to live without her. She could fight him off, she could push him back, but one day she would be his again. One day he would feel her body curled next to his in bed and he would be able to sleep well for the first time in seven years. She would be there to carry his children and make his life complete. She would be _his_ Haley once more.

_Because you live and breathe_

_  
Because you make me believe in myself when nobody else can help_

_  
Because you live, girl_

My world has everything I need to survive

Because you live, I live, I live

As the last notes of the song played Nate strode across the room and everyone saw his arm reel backwards and smack the Prince of Denmark straight in the nose. They all heard the crack as the bone broke and Nathan simply smirked. Going very bodyguard his arms reached out and grabbed Haley. Tossing her as if she weighed like feather over his shoulder and walking out the club as if nothing had happened. Thankfully no one had seen his face clearly and the police would therefore not be able to get a complete identity of him. His friends were the only one who knew who he was in that club and they would cover for him if need be.

X------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------X

"What the hell Nathan?" Demanded Haley as she beat on his back. He didn't speak. He just kept walking, not knowing where his feet were going or why. Nate just knew he had to take her somewhere where they could talk, could clear the air. He didn't care that she was engaged and broken his heart. No matter what she was going to listen to him. "Nathan? Nathan put me down!" She ordered but the pounding on his back barely registered. Just the feel of her curves so close to him made his heart beat too hard for simple words to get through to his mind. She was creating a pleasurable fog with her mere presence and he gladly got lost in that fog.

He was about to turn a corner when he got a slight shock. Gathered on the pavement in front of him were four people, somehow they had managed to follow him and seeing the general direction he was headed they had hastened after the tall, dark figure with the petite girl thrown over his shoulder. Lucas was standing in the middle with Jake on his direct left. Brooke, Luke, Jake, Peyton. They stood as a wall, stopping him going any further with this madness. Haley noticed them and almost cried with relief. Nathan was holding her so tightly it was almost painfully. She wanted to be put down because she knew that if she stayed there much longer she would lose her thoughts about letting him go completely. The mere feel of his strong muscles tucked against her stomach was causing a feeling in the very pit of her that she didn't want at that minute in time.

"Put. Her. Down. Nathan." Lucas spoke up and made sure that every word was separated and packed a punch. His voice was deeper and stronger than usual and filled with a commanding tone that just didn't suit his personality. Nate met his brother's eyes with the same stony resolved glare. He had his world back in his grasp, literally, why would he put it down again? Why should he let go of everything that he wanted a second time? Why should he go back to living a tenth of a life? Why should he put down the one thing that would make him happy? But then the word hit him, _thing_. Haley wasn't a _thing _she was a person. He seemed to have forgotten that momentarily and he groaned inwardly. He'd been seeing her as a possession instead of a person and that had been what caused him to blow up. He felt all the blood and anger drain away. He let Hales slip to the floor and he watched her hurry away to stand behind the four people who had rushed to her rescue. Her eyes were wide and Nathan felt his heart constrict, she was scared of him. The love of his life was scared of him.

"I'm so sorry Hales… Hales please don't look at me like that." He pleaded as he watched her face closely. He wanted that fear to disappear but instead of that it just got worse. Turning on her heel she ran away. He watched her flag a cab almost immediately and then she was gone from his life again. Gone because he had moved too fast. He had his work cut out if he was going to repair this latest blunder.

X------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------X

Haley stood over the sink in the hotel and cleaned the blood from her fiancé's face. "Did you know he was going to be here in LA?" Asked Jesse seriously. He needed to know if his future wife truly loved him or whether their relationship was based on a one-sided devotion.

"No," lied Haley convincingly. She lifted a hand and tenderly ran it over his cheek. He couldn't help smiling down at her; maybe she really did love him. He had seen the sparks flying between her and Nathan but that was only to be expected; he was her ex-husband after all. There was bound to be a residual emotion.

"Ok then, come on let's get to bed," he grabbed the hand that was holding his cheek and gave it a light tug, she readily followed not wanting to upset him further and make him question her lie. Jesse loved her, Jesse trusted her, Jesse was the one who had picked up Nathan's pieces, Jesse understood her, Jesse was always there for her. All these thoughts were running through Haley's head as she allowed herself to be led through the suite and into their bedroom. He may not be Nathan but he was a close second.

She had to live with what she had chosen. She'd made her bed and now she'd have to lay in it. Even though it was with the wrong man…

A/N Sorry this took so long... My muse died... Reviews always make me type faster!


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Four

Disclaimer: Not mine!

A/N My parents are so annoyed at the constant playing of Jesse McCartney's song. Thank you to all my lovely reviewers you are really helping me write quicker! The reason that this took so very long was my computer decided to die on me literally!

Nathan groaned as he watched Lucas turn to him. _Time for the lecture to begin. _He thought in annoyance as he sat back in the sofa and looked at his brother. Lucas' face was set in one of those 'I'm very pissed off' expressions that Nate was almost coming to expect from him. It was just part of his daily lot now. "What the hell were you thinking?" Demanded Luke as he swivelled to face his little brother once more and stared him straight in the eye. "Smacking the Prince of Denmark! Kidnapping his fiancé! What the hell is wrong with you Nate!?" Lucas' voice was drilling through Nate's and he hated the feeling of the walls vibrating along with the floor. If there was one thing that Lucas could do it was yell.

"I wasn't thinking ok? I wasn't thinking! All I could see was some smarmy blonde with his arms wrapped around _my_ Haley," spoke Nathan as he stood up and stared his brother back in the eye. His blue orbs alight with the anger and frustration that he had felt earlier that night. His mind was running with all that he had done, but sweeping Haley up had felt good and right to him. Everything was right when she was so near to him, he had never been able to think straight about anything that had to do with Haley.

"But she's not _your_ Haley anymore Nathan! She's Jesse's! Remember?! The guy whose engagement ring she's wearing! The guy she's going to marry!"

"I bloody well know that Lucas! I know that I let her go! I let go of the one good thing about my crap life! I let her go and I can't go to sleep knowing that! I can't close my eyes and think that I won't see her when I open them! I wish I could get over her but I can't Luke! She's always going to be at the back of my mind!" The admissions roared around the room they were standing in and Lucas finally understood why Nathan couldn't let her go, and why he shouldn't. The heart chose who you loved, not the mind. He needed Haley to keep his head clear, to put a smile on his face. The same reasons that Lucas needed Brooke.

"I'll be back…" Said Lucas quietly as he grabbed his jacket and headed for the door, seizing his keys from the hanger.

"Where are you going?" Asked a confused Nate.

"To set someone straight…" With that he left the room and swore under her breath. Time to explain the bloody deal away.

X------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------X

Haley James tossed and turned in her bed. There was an annoying tapping outside as if there was a tree that was forever tapping against it. She sighed with an annoyed huff and pushed the covers off of her. Jesse was sleeping peacefully and she knew that nothing could wake him. He was the heaviest sleeper she knew and no matter how many times she shifted or tugged at the covers he wouldn't stir even the slightest.

Pushing back the curtains slightly she got a shock when she realised that the tapping had not been a tree but instead of a figure throwing pebbles at the glass of her window. She gasped as the figure stepped into the moonlight and revealed that it was Lucas. Haley raised an eyebrow to herself as she watched him motion for her to come out. She shook her head but left the window and crossed to her wardrobe soundlessly. Slipping out of her pyjama's she quickly dressed. Underwear, T-Shirt, jeans, trainers and then a jacket.

She left the room in the shortest amount of time and smiled to herself and what she was about to be put through. Shaking her head as she made her way out of her room and then down the corridor of the hotel. In a moment she was out in the Foyer and looking around for her nighttime visitor. It didn't take her that long to spot him as she padded over to where he was and slipped into a seat. The bellboy turned his back to give them the privacy they required and then Luke started talking.

"Nathan." It was a singular word but it probed a response from Haley.

"What blew up in his head tonight?" Haley sat back in chair knowing that this wasn't going to be a fly-by conversation.

"Seeing you with Jesse."

"Jesse is my fiancé." She pointed out. On the outside Hales was trying to project this demeanour of being cool and composed. But the way Nathan had acted earlier had sort of shaken her up completely.

"A fiancé that you don't love, at least not the way I know you still love Nate."

"What? Lucas what have you been drinking?" Haley's face was shocked and dismayed. Had it been that clear? She had thought herself quite a good actress recently but obviously she wasn't.

"Nothing, it was Nate drinking, I'm simply speaking fact."

"I don't still love your brother Luke, I love my fiancé."

"But you don't… Which is why I'm here."

"Lucas look… I. Do. Not. Still. Love. Nathan." It was the first time she had used his name for seven years and it did more than assure what Luke had been thinking in his mind. She was being pushed onto the defensive and he could see that.

"You can lie with your mouth Haley but not with your eyes." She had always hated it when he got cryptic with her. It annoyed her.

"I don't know what you've taken Lucas but I'm not going to let you talk nonsense to me so I can talk nonsense back. I'm not some Jane Eyre."

"Let's not get into a debate about English Literature when we're meant to be talking about Nate here."

"It was you that proposed the stay away deal? You wanted me to stay away, why would you suddenly want me back in his life after seven years?"

"I thought that if you weren't there he would get over you quicker, I thought he'd stop drinking and get on with some other girl. But the moment I realised that wasn't going to happen he was too far-gone for me to change tact's. It was a few years ago that I realised how much I wanted you back there to help me but by then you were qualified and seemed to have such a perfect life, I didn't want to complicate it. We've both screwed up Haley but I bet neither of us realised that we were hurting someone that we both care for dearly."

"So what do we do now Lucas? I can't just drop my new life and run back into Nathan's arms. Life doesn't work like that, life lets you settle for second best." The words were out of Haley's mouth before she could think and sense had obviously forgotten to knock on the door of her mind.

"So he is second best?"

"Yes for god sakes Luke! But that doesn't mean I'm not going to marry him. I can't be with Nathan for everyone's good… Things are just better this way," the admission was obviously causing her great pain to say and Lucas could see it written it all over his old best friends face. Almost unconsciously he moved and sat next to her, his arm slipping around her shoulders in the brotherly embrace he always used to share with her. He realised then just how much he had missed his best friend and why.

"You haven't actually changed at all Haley," said Lucas with a smile as he surveyed her through now tender blue eyes.

"No I haven't… I still love Nate and I always will, but it wouldn't work. I promised Jesse, so I will marry him no matter what I feel. His family approves so I can't back out now."

"Even if it means you're miserable for the rest of your life?"

"Everyone settles Lucas. It's the way the world works nowadays."

"Whatever you say…" Lucas trailed off as he once more took a moment to glance down at his friend, he was yet to remove his arm and it was almost as if the bond of best friends was too strong to ignore anymore. At least one half of the Scott brothers were reunited completely with Haley. Maybe the other would follow soon…

A/N Reviews are my life blood…


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

Disclaimer: Not mine!

Nate once more glanced down at the photo-album before him, his bright blue eyes flicking the page as if it were the most important thing in the world. It was an image of him and Haley. His arms were securely fastened around her waist and she was grinning up at him with love in her honey eyes. He felt the familiar stab seize his heart in an iron grip. He ached for her, yearned for her and regretted it every day that his stupid pride had pushed her away, into another man's heart and another man's life.

Jesse didn't deserve her. Nathan knew this; he just wished that he could prove it. There was just something about the blonde man that Nate didn't trust, something in his eyes when he'd looked at Haley the night before. Something hidden that Nathan just couldn't read. Closing the photo album he glanced up the clock and noted that it was by then 8:30am. He had awoken about an hour before with the killer of hangovers and had instantly reached for the painkillers and taken a hot shower. Now three glasses of water later he was ready to face the day.

It was then that it struck the young man that Lucas was yet to return from his late night outing. Standing up from where he had been perched on the sofa he reached for the phone. Pressing 2 he heard the speed dial begin to work, then the ringing began. Nathan didn't let Luke get a word in after he picked up the phone. "Where are you?"

"_Good morning to you too Nate."_

"Where are you?"

"Just about… why?" 

"Are you with Hales?" Nathan's voice raised pitch when he spoke her name, making it sound strangled. There mere thought of her had such an effect on him it was almost scary.

"_I'm not going to lie… I am."_ Nate felt his temper rise in his chest at the thought that it was his brother, not him, sitting or whatever, with the love of his life.

"Is she ok? Does she hate me?"

"_Wait one minute… I'll ask her…"_ The line went silent for a moment and Nathan could hear Luke repeating his questions. Then he heard her. He heard her clear as day as she asked Lucas to hand her the phone. Nathan wondered why she would want to talk to him after what he did to her the night before. It obviously didn't take her long to talk Luke into handing over the mobile because the next moment her beautiful voice was chiming in his ear. The mere sound seemed to dull the pain in his head and the sting of his heart. He silently wished he could record the conversation just so he could hear her again and again. _"In answer to your question I am just fine and no I don't hate you."_

"I'm really sorry Haley."

"I know you are… But you've got to move on Nathan…" 

"I can't… And I won't," he assured her and his tone was one to prove he was completely serious. Over on the other side of town Haley shivered at the set voice and knew he had slipped into his stubborn mode.

"You have to Nathan… I'm getting married."

"_I know," _it was a simple two word sentence but all Haley could hear on the other side was the pain in his very soul. She still caused that? Her mind was running away with her and she decided it had been a bad idea to ask to speak to Nathan. She handed the phone back to Lucas as they had a short conversation but she was too lost in her own thoughts to pay attention to what they were saying.

X------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------X

Haley's head was going crazy as she made her way through the winding corridors of the Hotel. She just wanted to forget the sound of Nate's voice in her ear and the pain she had read, but it rang around her head like an annoying song. She needed to sleep, she needed to clear her head, and she needed to forget. Therefore she headed for her room.

For many months later she would wonder about what would have happened if she hadn't gone into that room, if she had chosen to go and get a drink instead. For when she opened the door to her suite the sight that she witnessed was one of the worst she would ever have to. Her heart ripped from her chest and shattered onto the floor.

Jesse was in bed with another woman.

For a moment she stood there stationary, her mouth hanging open and her blood pounding in her ears. It was when she dropped her jacket to the floor in horror that the two realised she was there. Jess turned to face her, expecting it to be a maid he could pay not to say anything, but upon seeing it was his fiancée his face fell to his knees. "Haley…" He began but she didn't let him say anything before she raced from the room. Tears obscuring her vision as she ran and ran and ran.

X------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------X

Crashing out into the street she headed for the nearest park, the rain was beating down on her but she just kept going. She wanted to run to someone, she wanted to feel protected and safe. Haley knew the only person who could make her feel like that was ready and waiting. But could she still run to him after all that she had done and he had done? Or was it just too late to heal the scars she had created on herself and him?

Coming to a stop in the park she looked down at herself. Soaked to the skin and heartbroken her hand reached for her phone. Dialling a familiar number she waited for the voice to ring in her ear. _"Hello?"_ She was silent, not sure if she could say anything. _"Hello?" _His voice once more ran through her senses and she managed to speak in a weak, her tears still mingling with the rain. "Nate…"

"Haley?! Haley is that you?" 

"Yeah…"

X------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------X

"Yeah…" Sitting in his hotel room Nathan Scott sat in silence for a breath of a second. Her voice was strained and weak against his ear and he knew something was wrong. "What's wrong Haley?" "He's not who I thought he was…" 

"Jesse?"

"He… He…" 

"Haley? Haley speak to me baby… Has he hurt you?"

"No… No he hasn't hurt me… At least not physically…" 

"Where are you?"

X------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------X

"_Where are you?" _Haley looked around her for the name of the park she was in but couldn't find it. She spied a Starbucks over the road and thought it would be easier for him to figure out where she was. So she went to cross the road.

"I'm just going into a Starbucks by a…" She was too preoccupied with talking into her phone that she didn't see the car come around the corner far to fast. In fact she didn't even register it in her mind until it impacted with her. The last thing she was aware was immense pain and the sound of his voice. _"Haley? Haley? Haley!!!"_

Her body crashed to the floor, having flipped over the bonnet of the car and landing behind it. Blood seeped from a deep wound at the back of her head. The world around her was black as her life slipped from her body. A faint scream in the background, the feeling of weightlessness. People rushed from the sidewalk to see if they could help. Soon the sound of an ambulance's siren could be heard blaring towards them. And through it all Nathan had to listen from the other side of the phone to his world falling away…

A/N I know you probably hate me lol. Reviews will make me write faster…


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

Disclaimer: Not mine!

Nathan hang up the phone and raced around his apartment. Keys, jacket, alarm, then he was out the door. He didn't care about getting sleep for training; he didn't care about filling his rumbling stomach. He had to get to her, he had to hold her and bring her back into his life before she slipped away completely. The sound of the screaming still rang in his head. The sound of sirens and her voice going dead on the other end. A million thoughts ran through his mind as he charged down the stairs of his hotel, staff looking at him oddly as he bumped into many of them. He didn't stop to apologise, Haley was far more important.

Taking the last step at a jump he sprinted through the lobby and called for his car immediately. He said it was urgent and had to be there yesterday. The staff jumped to it. Nathan Scott had always been one of their best customers through the years. Now it was obvious he needed them to work quickly and so his wish was granted, the black Ferrari was pulled up. He shoved a handful of notes into the concierge's hand and slipped into his car. Turning the ignition Nathan Scott sped off into the night in the roar of an engine being pushed to top capacity.

X------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------X

Nathan slipped on his blue-tooth headset and dialled Lucas on his phone. His older brother picked up on the second ring, probably waiting for a call but Nate was sure that that call wasn't meant to come from him. _"Hello?"_

"Lucas! Luke it's me," the panicked tone of his voice rang into Luke's mind and he snapped to attention on the other end of the phone.

"_What's up Nate?"_

"She's been hurt… Haley's been hurt… Accident… Hospital…" Nathan was barely thinking straight in his horror and Luke was having a hard time understanding what his little brother was going on about.

"_Nathan… Nate… Slow down, calm down. What's happened?"_

"Haley's been in an accident… I'm on my way to the Hospital right now."

"_Oh god… Do you know which hospital?"_

"No… I'm just going to the usual one and hoping that's where she's been taken."

"_Ok… I'll meet you there,"_ Nathan heard the dead line tone and realised Lucas had hang up, turning his full attention back to getting to Haley as quickly as was humanly possible in the car he had. He knew he had run a few hundred stop signs but at that moment the only thing in his mind, getting to Haley before he lost her forever.

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"Hello… I'm looking for the victim of a car accident… Haley James?" Nathan started speaking the moment he reached the desk and the lady behind it snapped to attention as if a shot had been rung through the air. Glancing up at him she saw a reason to find what he wanted and her fingers began to flick the keys in front of her. Coming across the name 'Haley James' she read the information off the screen before turning her head back to the handsome young man that she was already mentally sizing up with her big blue eyes. "She's in surgery at the moment, I'm afraid you're going to have to wait." Nate looked down at her one more time before leaving to sit on one of the cold plastic chairs. Her scream was still there in the back of his mind. His head dropped heavily into his hands and it wasn't long before he felt an arm toss heavily over his hunched back. "She'll be ok," the voice of his brother made him look up for a moment. He wished and wished that Luke would be right; he couldn't lose her, not after he'd only just found her again.

Haley was at that moment the only thing that could make it within Nathan's brain. People came and went but his eyes never seemed to flicker from the spot on the floor that he was staring at as if somehow Haley might appear there if only he looked long enough. He knew in his heart of hearts that the doctors working on her were the only people that could save her life. He was completely and utterly helpless, and this only made him feel worse within himself. He was powerless to save the woman he loved, something he had always swore he would never be.

It was not long before he heard the clip-clop of heels and he would have ignored it had it not been accompanied by a voice that he recognised. "Oh my god Nate how are you?!" The voice belonged to one Peyton Sawyer. He looked up to find her standing over him with a concerned look on her face. He knew at that moment that the worry could not be good for the baby that she was carrying within her stomach but she was obviously too busy crushing him in a hug to realise. He couldn't find his voice as he searched for the words that could explain the shere horror, anger and desperation that was running through his veins. He just wanted to see her, to hold her, to protect her from whatever the world was going to throw. He pushed a hand through his dark locks hopelessly and when he once more looked up he knew his eyes were saying everything for him, he didn't need to speak. Peyton seemed to understand and sat down on his other side, an arm slinging over his back. Luke saw this as the cue that he could go and look for some coffee or something. It wasn't safe for Nate to be on his own but he needed to drink and eat something at least.

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Ten hours had passed since Nathan first sat down in the chair in which he was still residing and not a word had reached his ears on how Haley was. He had acosted every nurse or doctor that walked past but he couldn't get an answer from any of them. He just wanted to know if she was going to live, but no one seemed to have a clue. That was until he heard a call come from the end of the corridor. "Haley James? Anyone for Haley James?!" Nathan's head snapped up and his eyes met with the doctor that was holding a clipboard. He sprung from his chair and headed over, concern and anxiety clear in every moment. "How is she?"

"I am so sorry."

"Why? Why are you sorry?"

"I'm afraid we lost her in surgery..."

A/N Ok I know this has taken me ages to do but there is a good reason. I'm not going to go into it but there is. Now don't shoot me for the ending...


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

Disclaimer: I own nothing but this plot

Nathan just stared for a minute as the words sunk deeper and deeper into his skull, sending shock waves through every muscle in his body. It couldn't be true. He refused to admit that it was true. She couldn't be dead, not when he still needed her so much. He didn't just want her to live, he needed her to live. It was the thought she was alive somewhere in the world and might one day come back to him that had kept him going all the lonely years without her by his side. His heart was crying out for the Doctor to laugh and say that he was only joking, but it never came. Instead the Doc just stood there and waited for a response from the shocked youth in front of him. Dr Kensington his name was and this was one of the worst reactions he had ever seen since starting at the Hospital a year beforehand. It was as if the news was killing Nate from the inside and it was so very clear in his eyes it was almost painful to look there and so the Doctor just looked down at the floor instead.

"She's… She's dead?" Nathan's voice shook violently as he tried to breath normally. This wasn't how the story went. Him and Haley always had to have a happy ending. It couldn't end with one moment of stupidity, one moment of lapse in judgement. It wasn't right and he refused to believe that God was cruel enough to tear her away from him completely. Life wasn't fair but this went so far past unfair it just couldn't work.

"I'm afraid she is."

"No… No she can't be dead."

"There was just too much damage… There was nothing more we could do."

"There must have been something!" His voice rose in anger as it took over from the confusion. There was no point in life if Haley wasn't out there, somewhere someplace.

"I am sorry but there wasn't anything…" He trailed off as another man that Nathan recognised raced up to him. Chris Keller. Nate's blue eyes flew open in surprise at the blonde man. Was he here for Haley? How had he known? No one had heard from Chris for years so why was he in the Hospital. It was the words that came out of his mouth that confused Nate even more however. "How's my daughter?"

"_Your _daughter?" Asked Dr Kensington.

"Yes… My daughter Haley James." Answered Chris. Nathan's brain sped into hyper-drive. Everything jumbled as he tried to search for some kind of sense in the entire world that was spinning around him. Chris hadn't registered that Nathan was there and so Nate just stood dumbstruck as the Doc delivered the bad news. He watched Chris' face crumble as if he had been physically stabbed in the heart, a mirror of his face earlier. After the Doctor had finished Nathan finally found his voice and questioned. "So there are two Haley James in this hospital?" The sound of his familiar voice finally poked through Chris' thick skull and he turned in surprise to Nathan. "What are you doing here?"

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An hour later the entire story had come tumbling out. Chris had explained that he married a young woman who's last name was James and had therefore taken the name as his own as it was her wish. They had then went on to have a daughter and named her Haley after the only other girl Chris had ever truly loved with all his heart. She was but one year old when they were told she had a brain tumour growing and was unlikely to live past three, unless the Hospital performed a risky operation that had an 80 chance of killing her. Unfortunately the odds had not tipped in their favour. Little Haley had died and there was nothing anyone could do about it. After the initial shock of having her ripped away so prematurely Chris seemed to take upon the thought that at least she was free of pain and suffering wherever she was.

Nathan however was still waiting for news on his Haley, however the thought that it wasn't her that had died in surgery gave him a guilty relief. He hated the fact that a young life had been taken away so early but in the back of his mind he was jumping for joy at the thought that it wasn't the love of his life laying in the morgue. Chris disappeared from his life as suddenly as he had entered it, leaving to say his final goodbyes to Haley Jr. Thus Nathan was once more left to sit, next to Brooke who had been impossibly silent for her, and continue to wait.

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Finally news came of Haley and Nathan's heart sped up at the words that fell from the Doctor's lips. "She's fine." Nate felt like hugging the man in front of him and jumping for joy. She was ok. She was alive. She had fought to come back, hopefully to him. This was his chance to set right his life and he was going to take it no matter what came to get in the way. Haley would soon bare the last name Scott again, if it was the last thing he ever did on the earth, she was going to be his wife again.

He felt his feet following the white coat down the twisting and turning corridors. Brooke and Lucas hot on his heels as he made sure to remember his route so that he would know where to come to next time. Finally after about five minutes they came to a stop outside a room numbered '395'. The Doctor opened the door and looked at the three of them. "One at a time please, she's still very weak therefore she'll wake up when she wants to."

"But she is going to wake up right?" Asked Lucas.

"It's up to her, we've done all we can." Brooke, Luke and Nate all nodded and they seemed to come to a silent agreement that it was Nathan that should be the first person inside. Simply to set his racing mind at ease.

The room was dark as he entered and his eyes immediately latched onto the little figure lying in the bed. Her blonde hair was splayed out over the white pillow and she seemed to match the colour of the sheets under which she was laying. He crossed the room in a matter of strides and took a second to simply look at her, to see what the damage was. There was a thick bandage wrapped around her head and a cut across her cheek. Her arms were black and purple with bruises where she hit the ground but the monitors she was hooked up to were bleeping almost merrily in his mind. Just assuring him of the fact her heart was beating. He watched as her stomach rose and fell as she breathed and the sight was enough to make him cry. Sitting down in the chair next to her bed to stop his legs giving way he seized the hand nearest to him and stroked the smooth skin with his thumb. Electricity racing through every nerve of his toned body. How long had it been since he felt the little hand clasped in his own? Far too long. He had almost forgotten just how perfectly it fit within him, as if she were designed for him and no one else. She was his special gift from God and now she'd been given back as far as he could see. With Jesse out of the picture there was no problems in the way right? His eyes caught the engagement ring glistening on her wedding finger and gently slid it off, placing it on the bedside table he was about to return to his staring when he heard a cold voice from the door. "I'd put that back on if I were you."

Nathan turned to see Jesse standing in the doorway and felt his blood rise in anger at the man's audacity. It was his fault that Hales was in the Hospital in the first place, he had no right to come and see her, to even breathe the same air as her. She was something higher than him, something perfect that he could now only dream of possessing. Nate stood up but made sure not to let go of the hand that he was now holding slightly tighter. "Get your hand away from my fiancée."

"You don't have a fiancée anymore."

"I beg to differ."

"Whatever happened between you two was enough to make her so upset she stepped out in front of a car, I doubt you're going to be able to go back a lovely happy relationship."

"That ring is a contract, Haley has to follow it through."

"Haley can do whatever the fuck she wants, this ain't the 1600's anymore Jesse."

"I am the heir to the throne of Denmark, I get what I want and what I want is to have Haley as my wife."

"Then you'll have to go through me first, because if I have anything to do with it you'll never even be in the same room as her again."

"What can you do to stop me? You're a commoner."

"A commoner that loves her, that gives me an advantage above everyone else."

"I doubt it. Now get out of my fiancée's room."

"Yeah like that's going to happen…" Nate replied sarcastically as he stared at the blonde man in amazement at the sheer way he spoke. He was acting as if Haley had no choice but to forgive him whatever he had done. Nate knew Hales well enough to know that wasn't going to happen. For a little girl she could sure as hell hold a grudge well. Nathan was so busy arguing with Jesse that he didn't notice the fluttering of Haley's eyelashes as she stirred at the sound of voices. One voice she had latched onto and allowed her to pull herself back to the world where she belonged and that voice wasn't Jesse's to say the least.

She blinked once against the bright light as the world tried to swim into place, the two guys were too wrapped up in being the bigger man to notice that she was awake. As her eyes adjusted to her new light she flicked them from Nathan, holding hand so lovingly, and Jesse standing in the doorway as if he owned the place. Haley felt as if a weight had been lifted from her hand as she realised that she was no longer wearing the heavy rock that had sat within her engagement ring, her chain as she was beginning to see it.

Nathan was the first to notice that she awake and his eyes met with her soft honey ones. His blue orbs were shining with love, it wasn't hidden in anyway, through his eyes he was baring his soul and a small smile flicked her features. Her throat was soar and she was unable to talk so she moved her eyes to indicate the glass of water. Nate grabbed it and held it to her lips, the two appeared to have forgotten the other man for a brief moment that was until he spoke sternly. "Get out of my fiancées room or I swear I will have security evict you." It was at this, after a drink, that the young woman within the bed found her voice. "Get out of here Jesse."

"Haley darling I'm truly sorry but surely you can't be serious…"

"I'm deadly serious, get out."

"I'm not going anywhere Haley, we're engaged therefore I have a right to stay here to make sure you're all right and being cared for."

"Consider out engagement terminated so to speak. I can put up with a lot of things but betrayal is not on that list. So. Get. Out."

A/N Reviews are a like Haley's heart monitor, they give me reassurance… Like it? Hate it? Review it!


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

Disclaimer: I own only my own mind wanderings and Jesse not OTH

Jesse stood there for a moment simply staring at his ex-fiancée and Nate. His expression flicking from surprise, and then back to anger. He felt so many words very un-Prince like bubbling up around his tongue and he knew he had to leave before he lost control and disgraced his family any more than he already had. "You're still mine Haley, you'll always be mine." And with that he left. His words however hung long after he had disappeared from the room, in the back of Haley's mind they would always remain because she could almost feel the truth in them. She knew Jesse hated to lose at anything and his ego was too big to just let it go. It was definitely not the last she would be seeing of him. However at that moment she had another guy to worry about, the one who had owned her heart for years.

"I don't know what to say to you Nathan."

"Just say that you love me." The request was a simple one but the words she wanted to speak choked in her throat. Could she trust him to trust her? Would he ever issue her an ultimatum again? Every time they were together it ended in tears, did she want to risk her heart like that again? Her heart was screaming yes, that it didn't care but her head was getting in the way of everything. All she could see was a teary end once more. "I can't…" She admitted as she looked anywhere but at Nathan.

Nathan watched her crumble before him as she admitted that she couldn't say she loved him. He felt another piece of his heart shave off but he simply held her hand tighter. Dropping to his knees next to her bed he raised his other hand and used it to clasp her tiny hand completely. "Please Hales…" His blue eyes were boring into the side of her face, as she had turned her head to avoid them. He moved one hand to turn her beautiful head and he caught sight of her deep brown eyes. Somehow he couldn't read the emotion within them. But he needed to know; he needed to know they were going to be ok in the end. Like they always were.

Seeing only confusion he did the only thing he knew how. Leaning forward he brushed her lips with his and every dark cloud that hung above his head and in his soul seemed to disappear as he felt the undeniable feeling of her kissing him back. This was what he wanted, to just have _her_. His life was wrapped up inside Haley so he was going to cling on to it. When he felt her begin to pull away he just couldn't let it happen. He had sworn that if he got her back for even a millisecond he would never let go again and so he didn't. Throwing an arm around her back he pulled her back into the kiss, deepening it slowly so as not to frighten her. When she welcomed him back however he felt every bone and nerve in his body give a jolt, it still remembered the taste of her, the feel of her and every corner of her was mapped out within his mind. He drank in that familiarity like a thirsty man in a desert. When finally he allowed her to pull back because air became a problem he couldn't help but smile at her. She looked so beautiful, her lips red and swollen from the intensity of the kiss.

Haley felt like she'd just taken a trip to the moon and back, light headed and the world deciding to spin wasn't helping her get her wits about her. She's forgotten how good he was at that, making her feel like he could protect her from everything and anything that was thrown by fate. Finding his smile she couldn't stop her lips turning the same way as she lifted a hand to run through his dark hair. It felt the same as it had done the last time she'd touched it. Soft and comforting against her grazed hands. She was sure she would have completely lost her senses and entered a snogging fest with him were it not for the knock on the door that interrupted the moment. She quickly drew her hand back as if she'd been burnt and she heard Nathan swear under his breath. "Fuck…"

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The knocker, also known as Brooke, had been listening from the other side of the door and when it all went silent within she turned to her companion. "He's kissed her…" This caught Lucas' attention as he pressed his ear to the door as well.

"Maybe we should go in there… You know before she does something she might regret."

"Oh let them have some fun."

"She's still weak Brooke, and anyway they need to be talking not making out…"

"Ok ok we'll knock, but we're not going in… Let them get reacquainted."

"You are so manipulating sometimes Cheery."

"And dead proud of it Broody."

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When no one opened the door Nate turned his attention back to Haley. "Hales we have to be together, that's how our story goes."

"I don't know Nate…" She once more turned her head but he simply turned it back. He wasn't going to let her run away again, not when she was so close to slipping back into his arms. "It's been so long. Do you really think we could work again after all this time?"

"Yes! Haley you're everything to me! Do you want to know how I spent the last few years? I spent it in a drunken haze because my heart and soul were missing. You were missing. I can't _be_ without you Haley. You're my life Haley James-Scott and no matter what you say now or how afraid you are I'm not letting you go again." His speech was filled with truth and Hales didn't miss the use of her married name. The name she had signed away with those annulment papers. Her hand came up to touch his cheek and he revelled in the feeling of her warm skin against his. It was like she was soothing away everything that had happened over the years, only she had the power to do that and he knew it. That was why it was so important that he got her back, that she forgave him. He watched as she leaned forward and placed a tender kiss on his forehead. "I love you Nathan Scott."

Hearing those words so softly whispered in his ear made his stomach flip like a schoolgirl and his heart do a double take before beating so hard he could have sworn it was him that had HCM. His arms got a mind of their own as they snaked around her waist and pulled her as close as was humanly possible. He knew she was still weak and in the back of his mind he was yelling at himself to ease up the tightness slightly but his arms just didn't seem to be connected to his mind. All they knew was they were holding Haley, something they had resigned themselves never to do again once those annulment papers appeared, but that didn't mean they hadn't still wanted to more than anything else.

It was at that perfect moment that Brooke and Lucas fell through the door. They had forgotten that if you leant too hard on something with hinges it was more than likely going to open. Landing on a pile on the floor the two couldn't help but laugh at the expression on the freshly reunited couple's face as they stared at them. Brooke was the first to clamber to her feet and dust herself down before she spoke, or not as much spoke as cheered. "Oh thank god you're back together now maybe Nate will stop moping," Haley laughed as she tugged herself from Nathan's embrace as much as she could before he snatched her back and pinned her possessively to her side. Brooke came to hug her but he wouldn't allow it. "My Hales," he joked like a little kid with their favourite toy before Haley playfully slapped him on the arm and he released her from the grasp he held her within so she could hug her friend. "Good to see you awake Tutor Girl… Or is that Tutor Wife?" Questioned Brooke with a cheeky smile. Haley would have tossed a pillow at her were it not for the fact she needed them to sit up straight.

The four friends sat for about an hour in their respective couples, simply forgetting the rule about the number of people allowed in Haley's room. The Doctors turned a blind eye as well the moment they realised their patient was happier surrounded by the people she cared about. It wasn't long before Jake and Peyton turned up with the kids in tow as well. The gang was back together and all seemed sunny for the group, but happiness never lasts long in Tree Hill and a black cloud was definitely setting in…

The End

A/N There will be a sequel to this story so make sure you look out for it! Please review now I am done… Might make me speed up the first chapter of part 2!


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